Location of IIT Madras, Chennai


IIT Madras is located on Sardar Patel Road and is flanked by Adyar, and the Taramani and Velachery villages. The campus is close to the Rajbhavan. The 640 acres of land which form the campus were once part of the Rajbhavan and were later donated to the institute. IIT Madras is recognized as a seperate postal zone.

The campus is midway between the Chennai Airport and the Central Railway station and is well connected by buses. It is around 14 kms from the Central Railway station and the central bus depot. Adyar has its own bus terminus as well.

The Institute in itself is located around 2.5 kms inside the campus. Two parallel roads, Bonn Avenue and Delhi avenue, lead you through the residential zone, under a canopy of green, to Gajendra Circle (otherwise called GC) and the administrative block. Buses ply between the gate and other locations on campus at regular intervals. Named after mountains, the IITM buses take you to the GC, academic zone and hostels (named after rivers) for a nominal fare. (This has infact led to the joke that IIT is the land of moving mountains and stationary rivers!)

Reaching IIT


If you have light luggage (a bag or an attache) you could consider taking a bus to IIT. The bus stop is just across the road from he Central Railway Station. You could use the subway to cross the road which is perpetually busy. There are direct buses to IIT, which start at the Central Station bus stop. If you take any of them, get down at Gandhi Mandapam, which is at walking distance from the IIT main gate. Otherwise, take any bus to Saidapet and from there, any bus heading for Adyar or Besant Nagar which will drop you right in front of the IIT gate. You could also take any bus to Adyar; there are frequent buses from Adyar Signal to the campus. Once you reach the In gate, there are buses to Gajendra Circle (near the administrative block and Central Library), the academic zone and the hostels (they are around 3.8 kms from the main gate!) almost every 30 minutes.

 Destination Bus Numbers
Central Railway Station Gandhi mandapam 18B,19S
Saidapet IITM, Besant Nagar 5B, 23C, 47A, 47
Egmore Railway Station IITM, Adyar 23A, 23C, 23E, 23G

If you have luggage, an auto-rickshaw or taxi would it would be the most comfortable option. The fare will be about Rs. 100 for an auto-rickshaw and Rs. 200 for a taxi. If you arrive at Egmore Station, you could take buses to IIT, Gandhi Mandapam or Adyar from where there are number of buses to the IIT. Current auto-rickshaw and taxi fares from Egmore are approximately Rs.60 and Rs.140 respectively.
From Airport: IIT is at a distance of about 15 kms from the airport. The terminals of the domestic as well as international airports in Chennai are next to each other. Prepaid taxis are available within the terminal and are the safest for foreign nationals. On the prepaid taxi service the rate is paid at the counter in the airport . Here you are given a taxi number and a receipt. On boarding the specific taxi one can reach the destination. The receipt is to be given back to the driver only on reaching the destination safely. The taxi's can be booked till the guest house(17 kms from the airport) and Taramani House(18 kms from the airport) to avoid travel within campus. Auto-rickshaws(3-wheeler cabs) are also available at the airport. The fare here is negotiable around Rs. 125- 150. The local train station Trishoolam is across the road from the airport. Frequent trains are available to go to the other parts of the city areas.